In the manufacture of semiconductors or semiconductor microcircuits it is necessary to remove materials from the surface of the substrate of the semiconductor device. In some instances the materials to be removed are polymeric compositions referred to as photoresists. In other instances the materials to be removed are residues of etching or ashing processes or simply contaminants. The purpose of stripping and/or cleaning compositions is to remove unwanted materials from a semiconductor substrate without corroding, dissolving or dulling the exposed surface of the substrate.
The art contains numerous references to compositions of different types for use in stripping photoresist and/or cleaning etch residue, ash or other contaminants from semiconductor substrates.
Patents in this technological field include U.S. Pat. No. 5,972,862 to Torii, U.S. Pat. No. 6,232,283 B 1 to Inoue, U.S. Pat. No. 5,534,177 to Mayhan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,321,166 to McGrady, U.S. Pat. No. 4,199,483 to Jones, U.S. Pat. No. 3,653,931 to Borchert, U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,005, U.S. Pat. No. 4,165,295 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,242,218 to Mey.